Merriwick Magic
by complete-randomalities
Summary: Life in Middleton is certainly magical and that's no different for Hope. Like the other Merriwicks in her family she has a few tricks up her sleeve. Navigating between what she would like to see happen and what the universe is going to let happen can be a bit tricky for Hope at times but she's got her family, friends, and Merriwick Magic on her side as she lives through it all.
1. Mysterious

Hope Russell sat curled up on the sofa during a quiet night in Grey House sketching away within the book opened up on her lap. With the dedication to her father right around the corner, he'd been on her mind more often as of late. Not that she didn't think of him any other time, but the memories of him were certainly in the forefront of her mind. Sketching out what she remembered helped Hope not feel so heartbroken.

Hope was about to put the finishing touches on one of her sketches when suddenly she got hit with a feeling, so she turned around to look out the window. Hope moved the curtain aside just enough to see a car pull into the driveway of the house next door with a man and teenage boy getting out of said vehicle.

Hope could also tell that her mother was about to enter the room, so she asked, "Did you know we've got new neighbors?"

"I did," Cassie answered with a smile as she lit one of the oil lamps on the mantle. "And I was just about to go over and introduce myself. Would you like to join me?"

Hope tilted her head a little bit as she looked out the window before returning the curtain to its place. "Interesting."

That little comment caught Cassie's attention. When Hope joined her to go next door, she asked, "What's interesting?"

"I think we're going to like our new neighbors." Hope took the oil lamp from her mother with a smile and led the way outside.

Cassie wasn't entirely sure if Hope had more meaning to her words than she was saying. Unlike with Grace, Cassie always had a harder time sensing what Hope truly meant. One way or another Cassie would ultimately come to understand her daughter but until that time came Hope could be quite the mystery.

Hope handed the lamp back to Cassie as they got closer to the next house over and the father-son duo who was trying to get into the house. "Good evening," she greeted with as much of a mysterious tone as she could muster.

Cassie gave her daughter an amused expression before adding onto her greeting. "Welcome to Middleton. We're your neighbors. I'm Cassie Nightingale and this is my daughter Hope." She shook the father's hand while Hope gave a bit of a wave towards them.

"Sam Radford," the father greeted in reply as he shook Cassie's hand. "This is my son Nick."

Hope looked around them to the door they couldn't seem to get unlocked. "You need some help there?"

Sam chuckled lightly at the question. "Only if you're a locksmith."

"Ah, we may be many things but locksmiths aren't one of them." Hope looked to her mother. "Or are we?"

Cassie shook her head slightly with a chuckle.

Sam didn't understand the humor and assumed it was an inside joke between them so he went on to say, "I think the realtor must have given us the wrong combination."

Cassie didn't think that was the case. "Oh, I doubt Ryan did that. He's very thorough."

"And yet, here I stand," Sam countered.

"If you give it another try I doubt you'll be standing there much longer." Hope gave them an affirmative and simply smiled at the confused look on Nick's face – Confused as in he couldn't quite figure her out.

Sam didn't see the point in trying the combination on the realtor's key box again. "I've tried it about a dozen times. It won't open."

"Maybe thirteen's the charm," Cassie smiled. "Give it a try."

Sam clearly thought they were nuts or something but gave it another try anyway. "Alright, but I don't think it's going to make…" He trailed off when he pushed the last button and the box opened for the key to the house.

Hope smiled wide at the surprised look on Nick's face and her eyes beamed 'told you so'.

Cassie smiled a bit as well and offered an explanation to the 'uh…what?'-looking expressions on the menfolk. "Oh, well, thirteen has been given such a bad reputation but it's actually been a very lucky number for us."

"You and your daughter seem to have the magic touch." Sam was still surprised that the box unlocked to give them the key.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a little Merriwick magic." Hope smiled again before saying, "Goodnight, neighbors," and heading back to Grey House.

Nick watched her go, asking, "Is she always like that?"

"Like what?" Cassie asked, wanting to hear exactly what Nick thought of her.

Nick had to think for a second before a word finally came to his mind. "Mysterious."

Cassie smiled with another light chuckle. "Oh, yes. She most certainly can be."

* * *

The following morning, Hope went down to the kitchen just in time to hear Cassie tell George that there was some Boswellia in his tea, so she voiced what she knew of the ingredient. "Derived from the gum of the Boswellia tree native to India and is used to help with…" she tilted her head a little in thought, "…arthritis."

Cassie looked at her daughter proudly. "Very good."

Hope shrugged like it was nothing. "I try." She sat down at the kitchen island and accepted the breakfast smoothie Cassie handed her. "Thank you kindly."

Cassie sighed a bit at what Hope decided to wear to school; jeans with holes in the knees, a pair of tennis shoes, and an oversized sweater that has seen better days. "Are you sure that's what you want to wear today?"

"You mean unlike what my fashion conscious twin is wearing? If it's clean and it fits then it get worn. I don't spend an hour each morning putting together the perfect ensemble unlike some people." Hope sipped at her smoothie when her twin sister Grace came into the room.

"I heard that." Grace stopped beside Hope and sighed. "I'm so glad we're not identical twins or else people might think that _I'm_ the one who dresses like that."

"We may not be identical but we look close enough for people to get confused," Hope answered in a sing-songy tone as she poked at Grace. After laughing at Grace's reaction, she remembered she forgot her bookbag upstairs. "Oh, I better get my bag." She took another quick drink of the smoothie. "Mmm, love the valerian root addition."

Grace looked at her own smoothie with disbelief. "How did I miss that?" She kind of narrowed her eyes in a bit of a scowl as she looked towards the other room when she heard Hope call back with,

"If you paid more attention to mom's teachings than your clothes you'd know!"

Grace set her cup down with a mild scoff. "She's my twin and I love her but sometimes she drives me nuts."

"You're very different but you balance each other out as well. It's good for the both of you." Cassie gently rubbed Grace's back before returning to the recipe she was working on.

Grace sometimes found that a bit hard to believe. "Yeah, well, if she could balance out her wardrobe with something that didn't look like it came out of the rag drawer then that would be great."

* * *

Hope sat next to Grace's friend Anthony in home room at school that morning. She always referred to him as Grace's friend because, despite them all knowing each other, he was never really her friend. Honestly, she found him a bit annoying which would of course make him a perfect match for Grace. While Hope loved her twin dearly she was quite often annoyed by her.

Hope was half listening to something Anthony was telling her as she sketched away. When Nick came into the room, she reached into her bag and pulled out a pencil which she handed to Nick as he passed by her desk to get his seat.

Nick stopped and took the pencil from her hand. "What's this for?"

"You're gonna need it," was all Hope said to this, not once looking up from her sketch.

"Another bit of Merriwick Magic? Whatever that is?" Nick asked as he moved into the seat a couple rows behind her.

"Yep." Hope finished her sketch, closed the book and saw that Anthony was looking at her weird. "What?"

Anthony didn't know how to answer that because he was still trying to figure her out. "I still don't get you, you know that?"

"It's all a part of my mysterious flair." Hope added in a dramatic gasping hair flip then laughed with Anthony about it. When their laughter subsided, Hope looked behind her and saw Nick was staring at her until another student sat down in front of him. She tilted her head again and smiled, "Interesting," before turning her attention to the morning announcements.

* * *

A couple periods later Hope was on her way to class when Nick caught up with her. He didn't have to say a word to her before she answered with, "You're welcome."

"What makes you think I was going to thank you?"

"Because you needed a pencil for the aptitude test and the only one you had in your bag was mine." Hope beamed at him as she stopped at her locker.

Nick couldn't poke a hole in her logic because there wasn't one. "Okay, you got me there. But how did you know? Seriously, are you like magic or something?"

"The teachers always give new students an aptitude test to see their placement in the class in case extra work is needed or a study buddy. And since you just moved I figured the location of a pencil was low on the priorities list for you." Hope exchanged her books in her locker. "Nothing magical about it." None that she was going to seriously admit to anyway.

Nick bought it because it was logical enough. "Well, thanks."

Hope closed the door of her locker saying, "Like I said; You're welcome. See you around, Nick."

Nick nodded affirmatively as she walked away because he definitely figured that they would be seeing each other again. Because, well, of course they would. They're neighbors after all.

* * *

After school Hope went to Bell, Book, and Candle. She loved helping her mom out at the shop and since all the dire homework was already completed, she didn't think her mom would have an issue with her helping out again.

Hope was just about to go into the Shop when Brandon came out of it. She could instantly tell that something was bothering him. "What's eating at you, big brother?" Hope usually called Brandon 'big brother' more often than his own name.

"Nothing," Brandon lied. There was something eating at him big time – he changed career paths and became a police officer but hadn't told anyone in his family yet. His wife Tara being the exception.

Hope crossed her arms and tilted her head as she looked at him in thought. "You're lying to me. And I seem to recall that we agreed for every lie you tell me I'm allowed to lie back with no consequences. So…is this one of those times or what?"

Brandon looked down for a moment and sighed. "It's complicated, Hope."

Hope decided not to pry despite how much she wanted to. "Alright, I won't ask anything else but I can tell this is bothering you so talk to someone about it if you can't talk to your old-soul little sister." She couldn't explain why but she went up to Brandon and hugged him. Hope just felt like he needed a hug. "Love you, big brother."

Brandon hoped she still would once he finally got up the nerve to tell the family what he'd been keeping to himself. "Love you, too." He pulled back and smiled, "We'll talk later. Promise."

Hope brushed her finger across the side of her nose and pointed at him. "I'm holding you to that." Since there was nothing else to be said between them in that moment, Hope went into the Shop. She instantly took off her coat and set it along with her bag behind the counter.

Cassie was speaking with a customer when she saw Hope come in. After finishing up the recommendation she went to speak with her. "No homework?"

"There's a report due next week. I'll work on it some more tonight. Everything else is done." Hope gestured to her bag. "You can check it if you'd like."

"I trust you, Hope." It pained Cassie a little to think that Hope thought she didn't. "It's just…" She took a moment to find her words. "You spend your time here, at school, or at home. You're allowed to go out with friends and all that."

"If I had people that I actually wanted to hang out with then I would. But since I don't, I can't exactly do that." Hope gestured around the Shop. "So…am I allowed to help for a couple of hours or are you sending me home?"

"Of course you can help if you'd like." Cassie wasn't going to stop her. She just wished she could help her daughter but it seemed like no matter what she tried nothing worked. Perhaps Hope's personal gift was getting in the way of Cassie's attempts.

Hope could see the gears moving within her mother's mind but didn't address it. In fact all she said was, "Thanks," and left it at that.

* * *

After spending a couple hours at the Shop, Hope headed home. She had her headphones on and was listening to her music rather loudly as she walked past Nick's house, but removed them to hang around her neck when she had a feeling he was approaching. Hope didn't turn around or stop walking when she said, "Hello, neighbor."

"You could have told me you had a twin," Nick replied as he walked in front of Hope to keep her from walking away.

"We're not identical so I didn't see a point." Hope absolutely knew they looked close enough to get confused for one another, but not telling him was a bit amusing for her.

"Maybe not, but close enough. Your sister probably thinks I'm crazy now for talking to her like I knew her." There was a little bit more to the story than that, but he was leaving it out.

"Details, neighbor. You gotta pay attention to the details." Hope raised her finger and moved it around in a circular moment as just a general reference. "For example…" she tilted her head as she looked at him, "…you wish you were back in New York."

"That easy to read, huh?" Nick had already had a similar conversation with Grace but oh well.

"Middleton is pretty different from New York. It's not for everyone but it has a tendency to grow on people." Hope nodded affirmatively. "And you're one of those people."

Nick laughed because he thought that was insane. "Yeah, no. I'm never going to like it here."

Hope just smiled a bit and shrugged. "If you say so." She returned her headphones to her head as she walked past Nick to head into Grey House.

Nick scoffed a chuckle because, yep, Hope was certainly something else.

Hope went straight into the kitchen at Grey House, all while bobbing her head a bit to the music playing in her ears. She was getting herself a glass of juice and poured another for Grace before Grace had even entered the room. Hope handed it to her sister before sliding onto a stool at the island.

Hope knew Grace was talking but didn't hear a word of it and it wasn't until Grace waved a hand on front of her face and gestured to the headphones that she removed them. "What was that?"

Grace set the glass down and sighed. "I was saying I think the boy next door has a crush on you. He was like flirting with me earlier until he realized I wasn't you then he got all snippy. It's not my fault we bumped into each other – like literally walked into each other. And do you know he hates Middleton? Like genuinely hates it."

Hope finished her drink and brought the glass to the sink as she spoke. "No offense, Grace, but you wouldn't be able to tell if someone was flirting with you if your life depended on it." She ignored Grace's offended 'hey!' and continued. "And give Nick a break about Middleton. He's just been moved away from the only world he knows and let's face it – Middleton's dynamic is nothing like he's known. If the roles were reversed and we were picked up and moved to New York or something we probably wouldn't be happy about it either." Hope give her a 'think about it' eyebrow raise and left the kitchen.

While Hope may have thought the conversation was over, Grace didn't agree. She followed Hope upstairs asking, "Do you get feelings about him too?"

"I've always had feelings about people outside the family, Grace. You know this." Hope was about to put her headphones back upon her head but stopped mid-motion when Grace asked her,

"Did you have a feeling about Dad?"

Grace saw the aghast look on Hope's face and realized what Hope thought by her question. "I didn't mean…"

Hope wasn't going to let her finish that sentence. "You didn't mean if I felt something or saw something then why didn't I say anything? If I saw or felt something about Dad I would have said something! How could you even ask me that?!"

That wasn't where Grace was going with that at all. "That's not what I meant, Hope. I was just trying to figure out if…"

"I don't care," Hope shot back and turned around to go down to her room but stopped when their mom appeared out of nowhere.

"What is going on between you two?" Cassie looked at her daughters in concern because they had never fought like this before.

"It's all a misunderstanding," Grace tried to explain.

Hope turned around to face her sister. "You _always_ say what you mean the first time, Grace. You never mistake your words. What you asked maybe wasn't what you meant to come out of your mouth but that's what you were thinking. Tell me I'm wrong and I'll apologize for yelling and drop it."

At Grace's silence, Hope scoffed, "That's what I thought." She turned to her mom and said, "I'm going for a walk," before heading back downstairs.

Grace felt bad about all of this. "Mom, I didn't mean anything by it."

Cassie understood. "I know, sweetie. Hope will come to realize that, too." At least Cassie hoped she would.

* * *

After Hope's walk to clear her head a bit, she went back to Grey House but didn't go inside quite yet. She thought she heard the dribbling of a basketball coming from next so she went to investigate. And yep, there was Nick playing basketball. "Don't miss!" she called out to him, which of course made him miss the shot and in turn made her laugh.

Nick scoffed a chuckle at her as she walked down his driveway. "Thanks," was his sarcastic reply.

"You're welcome," Hope beamed before swiping the ball away from him and shooting it right into the basket. "Oh! Nothing but net!" She exhaled on her knuckles before rubbing them onto her shoulders.

Nick got the ball of her shot and asked her, "Was that a lucky shot or do you play?"

"Yes," she answered since she was asked a double question.

"Oh, so again with the mystery, huh?" Nick asked her in a teasing manner.

Hope smiled a bit with a shrug. "Not like I've got anything else going for me."

Nick's opinion differed on that. "I'm sure you've got other stuff going for you."

Hope instantly responded to that in a playful manner. She stole the ball from him again as she said, "Like a wicked hook shot!"

Nick couldn't believe she was about to make a shot on him again but at least he tried to stop her but failed. When Hope once again scored he dropped his head and shook it as she jogged around the driveway cheering, unaware that Grace had been watching them from the Grey House window.

* * *

Late that night, Hope was down in the sitting room when Cassie came in and sat down beside her daughter. "Can't sleep either?"

Hope simply shook her head in reply since she wasn't in much of a talking mood.

Cassie had a feeling what this was all about. "Grace truly didn't mean how it came out. She was confused as to why she wasn't able to sense what happened to your father. She just…didn't want to be alone in that."

"And yet that wasn't what she said." Hope looked away as she shook her head before turning back to her mother. "I would have given _anything_ to have sensed what was going to happen to him so it could be stopped. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish I had."

"Hope, you gift doesn't work like that. That's because it's a gift and not a power. You can't summon it or wield it. Sometimes it's there and other times it's not." Cassie reached down and gently moved some of Hope's hair behind her ear. "The universe has a plan for everyone and it doesn't always make sense."

Hope had a bit more to add to that. "Doesn't always make sense and can hurt like crazy."

Cassie couldn't argue with her there. "That is true, but everything happens for a reason." She hoped her daughter would find some comfort in that. "Try to get some sleep, sweetie. And please try not to be so angry with your sister."

Hope got off the couch to head up to bed with a "No promises" as she went.

* * *

While hope didn't make a promise to try and not be angry with Grace, she was putting in some effort. Her presence the following morning at the Bistro before school was a part of that. Did she particularly want to hang out with Grace and Anthony that morning? Eh, not so much but it wasn't like she had anything else to do.

The three of them were discussing the soon to be due report for history when Nick came in with a couple of the more popular girls from school.

Anthony took this opening to say to Hope, "Looks like he's got crushes on more than just you."

"Nick can crush on whoever he likes," was all Hope had to say in response to that.

"I still can't believe he's been here less than a week and already has more friends than me," Anthony thought aloud, which Grace retorted with,

"Those aren't friends." She looked at the time and saw they were going to be late if they didn't get a move on. "Let's go."

Hope didn't have a problem with that so she got up with Grace and Anthony. They could have just made a clean getaway but Anthony just had to stop.

Anthony leaned against the counter as he said to Nick, "Hey, aren't you going to be late for school?"

Nick wasn't concerned about that. "Nah, we're blowing off the first couple of periods." He recognized Hope easily now. "You're welcome to join."

Hope was about to decline and warn him about skipping but Grace spoke before she could open her mouth.

"She's not interested. And I wouldn't skip if I were you." Grace was trying to be friendly with her warning.

Nick scoffed lightly. "Well, you're not me or her. So why don't you let Hope speak for herself." He looked past Grace where Hope stood for her answer.

"No thanks," Hope replied. "I'd rather not get in trouble with the Vice-Principal or my mom."

Nick shrugged in a 'whatever' fashion. "See ya."

"Later, neighbor." Hope gave him a bit of a 'salute wave' before heading out of the Bistro not caring if Anthony and Grace were behind her or not. Either way she wanted to get out of there.

* * *

The day thus far had been pretty uneventful for Hope but that all changed when she got home because her sister Lori was due any time. In fact, Hope was just finishing up her report when Lori came into Grey House. Hope left her school work at the counter in the kitchen and went straight into the foyer where Lori was greeting everyone.

"Hope!" Lori squealed as she hugged her little sister. "Oh my wow, you and Grace and really coming into your own looks. I can actually tell the two of you apart now."

"It's all in the details," Hope laughed back, so happy now Lori was there. "We've all missed you. How was your trip?"

"Can you guess?" Lori asked with a grin, figuring Hope would get it right.

Hope tilted her head to the side as she looked her older sister older. "Hmm…Trip was fine?"

Lori nodded and they all shared a laugh before she confirmed. "Trip was fine." She looked around and didn't see their brother. "Where's Brandon?"

"He's upstairs," Cassie answered then let her in on a bit of news. "Oh, we have new neighbors."

Lori was surprised to hear that. "Someone finally bought that place?"

"A doctor and his son," Cassie further informed and Grace added in,

"He's in our class." Grace gestured between herself and Hope.

Lori nodded a little as she looked at her sisters. "Hmm. He hot?"

"He thinks he is," Hope and Grace answered in unison – something they hadn't done since they were kids.

The whole group got a chuckle out of that but the amusement ceased when Brandon greeted Lori from the stairs. They all turned around to look at Brandon and found him standing there wearing a police officer's uniform.

Brandon really ripped the Band-Aid with his revelation as he gestured to his uniform saying, "I got a new job."

Suffice to say, no one was expecting that.

Lori couldn't believe what she was seeing. "If – if this is some kind of joke, it's not funny."

"It's not a joke," Brandon proudly informed them as he approached. "I'm a police officer. I passed all my tests, I start the day after tomorrow."

Lori still couldn't believe Brandon had done that. "So you just suddenly decided to do this?"

"It wasn't sudden," Brandon tried to explain but Lori wasn't having it,

"Brandon, what are you trying to do here?"

Brandon was starting to get that his family wasn't taking this news very well. "I didn't mean to upset everybody."

"Well then quit," Lori instantly answered.

Brandon couldn't believe she said that. "What?"

"Quit," Lori answered with more emotion. "Enough, okay? I'm done losing people I love."

"I'm gonna be fine," Brandon tried to assure her.

Lori took a deep breath before saying, "Yeah, well, Dad thought he was going to be fine too, now he's gone." She couldn't even look at her brother any longer so she left the foyer and went into the other room.

George did not understand where Brandon's logic was coming from. "This was the last thing your father would have wanted." He too had to leave the foyer, leaving Brandon with Cassie and the twins.

Brandon thought Cassie would understand. "Cassie…"

"I – I can't believe this is what you want." Cassie truly couldn't believe that.

While Cassie and Grace stood there silent, Hope went over to Brandon and hugged him tight. "This is what was eating at you, wasn't it?"

Brandon nodded as he hugged her back. "Yeah."

Hope pulled back from their hug and sniffled a bit. "You look just like Dad." She thought she was going to cry and didn't want to cry so she, too, tried to leave.

Brandon didn't want Hope to leave like that. "Hope…"

Hope turned around long enough to say, "I support you Brandon, but I'm gonna need some time to wrap my head around it. Okay? We'll talk later."

Brandon didn't try to stop her again because she used his name when she addressed him. Hope pretty much only did that when something was really bothering her, so he was going to let her and everyone else process the decision he felt was right for him.

* * *

Hope was certainly multitasking on her way to school the next day; She was listening to music on her headphones as she sketched in her book all while making sure she didn't bump into anyone. She was still processing that Brandon was now going to be a police officer, so she wasn't really in a talking mood. That didn't change when she felt Nick coming towards her. In fact, she picked up the pace in hopes that he'd take the hint…He didn't.

Hope stopped walking when Nick appeared in front of her and removed her headphones to hang them around her neck before sticking her pencil behind her ear and closing her sketchbook. "Told you so."

"You've got to stop doing that," Nick chuckled. "But yeah, you and your sister were right. I got busted by the Vice-Principal and my Dad for skipping. Maybe next time I'll listen to you."

"You do that." Hope took the pencil from behind her ear, returned her headphones and walked around Nick only for him to match her pace. Finally she stopped and took her headphones off again. "Do you want something?"

"Just walking to school." When they began to walk again, he stated what he noticed. "I haven't seen your dad around. Divorced?"

Hope stopped in her tracks when he asked her that. When Nick also stopped, she answered him. "No, uhm…my Dad passed away awhile ago."

Nick instantly regretted asking her about him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"The whole town knows. Just like the whole town is going to know my big brother is going to follow in his footsteps." Hope let out a deep breath after just blurting that out there and turned her attention to Grace and Anthony when they approached.

"Is Nick walking with us?" Anthony asked Hope.

"You two are an 'us'?" Nick looked from Anthony to Hope in question.

"No, they're not," Grace answered for her sister, with a tone that was hinting to Hope that she was right about her suspicions that Nick had a crush on her.

When Nick seemed to look at her for confirmation, Hope gave it to him. "We're not." She gestured behind them. "So, school? Yeah? Awesome." With that, she turned around and took the lead, not saying another word to the others as they went. Suffice to say, that short walk to school that day had soon become the longest walk any of them had ever taken.

* * *

End Season 1 Episode 1


	2. Let's go

Hope sat on her usual spot on the sofa in the living room with her box of drawing pencils on the coffee table in front of her. She leaned forward to go through them and didn't look up as she called out, "Take a seat, big brother." Hope just knew Brandon had come into Grey House.

Brandon had just finished closing the front door when he heard Hope's words. He'd swear she was more in tune to people's arrival than even Cassie was at times. Since he hadn't had a talk that ended well with Lori he hoped that this conversation would go better. Hope was already calling him 'big brother' so that was a step in the right direction.

Brandon entered the sitting room and sat down beside her. "What are you working on?"

"Something for art class. It's kind of like a 'then and now' thing. We're supposed to draw something of meaning from our childhood beside the item now that reflects the same meaning." Hope had found the pencil she was looking for and put the finishing touches on her piece.

"Can I see it?" He looked over to see what it was but moved back when Hope glared at him. "I can wait."

"Smart," she replied with a smile then looked over her picture. "I think that's it." Hope tossed the pencil back into the box and handed over her sketchbook.

Brandon carefully took the book from her and almost couldn't believe his eyes. Hope had sketched her father in his police chief uniform standing with his arm wrapped around Brandon wearing his own uniform. They were both smiling with joy and pride and Brandon couldn't even express what seeing that meant to him. "Hope, this is incredible."

"I meant it when I said you looked just like Dad." Hope scooted closer to Brandon and rested her head on his shoulder. "Is this what you really want to do?"

"It is," Brandon assured her. "I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't."

"Then I support you. I'm going to worry about you_ a lot_ – which is a given – but I support you." Hope sat up and let out a deep breath. "Promise me you'll be careful?" She held out her pinky for him to swear upon.

"I can't remember the last time I did a legit pinky-swear," Brandon chuckled then wrapped his pinky around hers. "I promise I will be careful." Once his vow was made, he hugged his little sister. "Thank you."

"I try," Hope sniffled back some tears then remembered something else. "I've got something for you." She reached into her pocket and handed Brandon a small black stone that had a white snowflake-like pattern upon it.

Brandon accepted the stone and looked it over but didn't recognize it. "What is it?"

"Snowflake Obsidian," Hope answered. "It's to bring balance in times of change, soothe and resolve internal conflict, and to provide protection against emotional and physical harm. Just a little something to carry around in your pocket."

Brandon appreciated it a lot, not only because it'd ease Hope's worries a little but because he believed it'd work for him. After all, Hope had a magic all of her own. "It's perfect, thank you." Brandon wanted to talk to Cassie as well so he stood up to head into the kitchen where she likely was, but he wanted to make sure of something first. "Hope, are we good?"

Hope nodded affirmatively as she picked up her sketchbook and closed the cover. "Yeah, big brother, we're good."

* * *

The entire way to school Hope had this strange feeling and it bothered her because she couldn't place what it was, or who it was about, or…anything. She hadn't had a feeling like that before and it was unnerving her to no end. Hope was, well, hoping that she'd be given some clarity as the day went on but none came. At least none came until she went to her locker before going down to lunch.

Hope was swapping out some books and accidentally dropped her sketchbook on the floor. Just when she was about to pick it up another hand appeared and beat her took it. Hope accepted it with a quick, "Thanks," before looking up to see who it was. And she certainly did have to look up since he stood about a foot taller than her.

"You're welcome," he replied with a smile as he extended his hand. "I'm Lance."

Hope shook his hand for a moment longer than she probably should hand before clearing her throat. "You're the Mayor's nephew?" She heard Martha talk to her mom about the arrival of her teenage nephew.

Lance smirked at the news. "You've already heard of me? Good things I hope?"

Hope tilted her head a bit in thought. She wasn't sure what he was yet. While she could tell he was the source of the unknown feeling, she still couldn't figure him out. "We'll see." She closed her locker and walked away.

Lance turned around and called out to her in a laughing manner, "Now how is that fair? I didn't even get your name."

Hope turned around long enough to reply with, "You should have asked." When she resumed walking in her desired direction, Nick match pace with her. "Hey, neighbor."

"Who was that guy?" Nick didn't recognize who was just talking to her.

"That's the Mayor's nephew. His name is Lance and he just transferred in so you're officially not the brand new kid anymore." Hope gave Nick a curious look. "Why so intrigued?"

"I don't usually see you talking to a lot of people." Correction – Nick didn't usually see Hope talking to a lot of boys.

"You should come by my Mom's shop when I'm working. Then you'll see me talking to a _whole bunch_ of people." Hope turned the corner to head down to the cafeteria and found Nick was still walking with her. "Don't you usually leave for lunch?"

Nick shrugged, "Don't feel like it today."

Hope wasn't going to argue with that. "Alrighty then. Hey, do you like the strawberry Starbursts?"

Nick gave her an 'uh, of course' expression. "Uh, yeah. All the other flavors suck."

"You can have them then. I can't stand the strawberry ones." Hope's face cringed a bit as she opened her pack and popped out all the pink ones.

"You're not normal," Nick joked as he popped an unwrapped Starburst into his mouth.

"Oh, neighbor, normal is but an illusion." Hope placed her hand on Nick's shoulder as she continued, "What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly." She grinned before getting into the lunch line.

And Nick, well, he wasn't sure how to even respond to that so he just went along with her.

* * *

Later that day Hope realized that she had accidentally taken Grace's notebook which likely meant her own was in Grace's locker so she got a pass to quickly dart out and get it. Hope and Grace knew each other's locker combinations so it wasn't going to be an issue to swap the notebooks out.

Just like Hope thought, her notebook was there and after she placed Grace's where her own was she realized there was something else in there; Harry the Falcon statue. "What?" Suddenly it hit her for no explainable reason. "Nick." She reached in and grabbed the statue to return it before anyone realized it was missing - if they hadn't realized it already. Only she hadn't gotten very far before someone spotted her – The someone being Lance.

Lance was on his way to the restroom when he spotted Hope holding the statue and couldn't help but go over and find out what was going on. "I'm guessing you're not supposed to have that."

"Neither is my sister, but _I'm_ guessing someone stuck it in her locker because no one would think to look there." Hope looked up and down the hallway to see if any authority figure was coming.

Lance reached out and took it from her. "I'll put this back. It's Harry, right? I heard some kids talking about this being missing earlier."

Hope couldn't tell if there was an ulterior motive to his kindness or not. She tilted her head to the side as she tried to figure him out. "Odd."

"Ditto." Lance winked at her before heading down the hall with Harry the Falcon, saying to her as he went, "Maybe the next time we meet I'll actually get your name."

Hope shook her head with a smile made a mental note to ask her mother why there was someone she couldn't get a read on, but first she had to get to class.

* * *

After school, Hope went to the Bistro to meet up with Grace. She had a feeling that Nick was about to come out so she stayed outside for him to make his appearance and he soon did. "Not cool, Nick. Whatever shenanigans you want to get yourself into that's on you but leave my sister out of it."

Nick scoffed at this. "Grace told you?"

"She didn't have to." Hope waved her hand around in a general manner. "Merrick Magic remember?" This time she scoffed. "Doesn't matter. By now Harry should be back where he belongs and this time he's going to stay there."

Nick tried to defend himself. "It was a harmless prank."

"Pranks always start out as harmless but in the end there's always someone who ends up getting hurt." Hope took in a deep breath as certain memories filtered into her thoughts. "Trust me, I know." With nothing left to say, she went straight into the Bistro.

Hope didn't say a word to Grace or Anthony as she sat down on the sofa with them. At least she didn't say anything until the words, "Sometimes life just sucks," came out of her mouth.

Grace and Anthony couldn't argue with her there and both raised their cups of coffee, saying, "Cheers to that."

* * *

Hope thought that everything with Harry the Falcon had been settled but it was far from it. She found out that Lance had been caught putting the statue back in the display case – the display case in which the glass had been broken in order for the statue to be retrieved. And since Lance didn't mention Hope or sway from his truth that he was just putting it back, he was in hot water with the school and potentially the police since the broken glass was an act of vandalism.

Suffice to say, Hope was fuming when she went over to Nick's house after hearing everything that had happened from Grace who heard it from Anthony who overheard it from the _very_ unhappy Mayor at the Bistro.

Hope's hard raps upon Nick's front door finally got his attention. As soon as answered she seethed, "You are _unbelievable_! I _told you_ someone was going to get hurt!"

Nick had no clue what she was going on about. "Hope I have zero clue what you're talking about."

"I found Harry in Grace's locker, Lance found me with Harry and offered to return him, but he got caught and now he's in trouble. You need to come clean, Nick. Things are only going to get worse all around if you don't." Like Hope had said before, she was speaking from experience.

"Does your boyfriend know I'm the one who took it?" Nick shot back.

She couldn't even process why he was asking her that. "He's not my boyfriend! I literally just met the guy!" Hope placed her hands on her face and groaned because they were getting so far off topic. "This is about doing what's right. I know you're capable of doing it so the only question is whether or not you're actually going to." Hope intended on leaving right then and there but she had one last thing to say. "I can't control who you hang out with or what you decide to do with your life but I hope one day soon you'll take a hard look at yourself in the mirror and decide whether or not you like the person who's looking back at you."

Now _that_ is where she left him with her words and she didn't stick around long enough to find out if they made a dent or not.

* * *

Hope somehow managed not to see either Nick or Lance the next day at school, but afterwards was a different story. Hope was on her way home when Lance caught up with her saying, "Not sure what got into that Nick guy but he admitted to stealing Harry."

Hope allowed herself to smile at this information. "Good to know."

Lance chuckled at her smile before letting her in on some more information. "Bonus, Aunt Mayor is laying off a little bit. Can't blame her for being tough on me. I'm in Middleton for 'rehabilitation'." He made sure to use air quotes around that word.

Hope raised a brow of intrigue which made Lance say,

"I got into some trouble at my old school. Fighting trouble. Since it wasn't the first time my mom gave me the choice of military school or coming to live with her big sister for the rest of the school year. Bet you can guess what I chose." Lance wanted to clear something up so Hope wouldn't get the wrong idea about him. "I'd get into fights when kids who couldn't defend themselves got targeted."

"So you were a fighter of the bullies? That's noble but there are other ways to help."

Lance nodded in agreement. "True, and at first that's the route I took but a lot of times a 'good talking to' just made things worse. The creeps at my old school remember fists better than words. So I used what worked."

Hope tilted her head a little as she looked at Lance and a little smile appeared on her face.

Lance noticed this but wasn't sure what she was smiling about. "What's that for?"

"I just realized why I can't figure you out – You're an enigma." Her smile grew a bit. "This is going to be fun."

"Since I'm providing so much entertainment for you, can I finally get your name?" Lance could have easily asked around but wanted to hear it from her. "I know you're not Grace, we've been introduced."

Hope laughed before introducing herself as well. She held her hand out for him to shake, "I'm Hope. It's nice to meet you, Lance."

Lance shook her hand and replied with, "Nice to meet you as well."

* * *

Hope almost couldn't believe the weekend was upon them and the dedication for their father. She stood in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom and looked at herself. Hope didn't like wearing skirts or dresses but for that day she made an exception. She decided to wear a simple black dress, flats, and a sweater. Hope was finishing tying up the braid in her hair when her sisters came into the room. "I feel like I'm going to his funeral again." Hope shook her head and sat down at the foot of the bed.

Lori and Grace sat on either side of her. Lori started by saying, "I'm not sure how I should feel – whether I should be happy or sad."

"I think a little of both," Grace replied as she took Hope's hand in hers. "This day is to remember Dad. Whether we're happy about what we remember or mourn him being gone I don't think it matters. Just as long as we remember him, you know?"

Hope nodded as she sniffled back her tears. "I miss him _so much_."

"We do, too," Lori assured her, despite knowing that Hope already knew that. "Everyday." She stood up and held her hands out to her sisters. "Let's go."

As much as a huge part of her didn't want to go because it honestly made her heart ache, she took Lori's hand and stood up with Grace. At least she wouldn't be going alone. Hope didn't think she'd be able to handle if she was alone. With a deep breath and a hand squeeze to both her sisters, she said, "Let's go." And so they did.

* * *

End Season 1 Episode 2


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